Hosiery-knitting machine



Nov. 13, 1928.

c. "r. M. GREEN ET 4% HOSIERY KNITTING MACHINE Filed Aug. 2, 1927 Illli 2 sheetsshaat 1 INVENTOR 6, Thu/"e M Green ATTORNEY Nov. 13, 1928. 1,691,056

. c. T. M GREEN ETAL HOSIERY KNITTING MACHINE Filed Aug. 2, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENT C. Thure M. 6/? Fre d H. 2052? Wax/0% ATTORNEY Patented Nov. 13, 1928.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CLAUS THURE H. GREEN, OF BROOKLYN, AND FRED H. DOST, OI FBEEPOBT, NEW YORK, 'ASSIGNORS T0 JULIUS KAYSER & 00., OF.NEW YORK, N.Y., A CORPORATION 'OF NEW YORK.

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Application filed Auzult 2', 1927. Serial 170 210,118.

Our invention relates to hosiery knitting machines of the so-called full-fashioned type, and has for its object the provision of certain improvements and additions to such knitting machines by means of which it is possible to produce stockings having pointed reinforcements of various heights at various locations on the stockings.

As an illustrative example of our invention we have shown 'in the accompanying drawings a machine equipped to make a stocking having the well-known pointed heel reinforcement and in association therewith additional pointed reinforcements of about half the height of the heel reinforcement, located at or near the ankle bone, one on each side of the foot. Inasmuch as the pointed heel reinforcement is atthe seam of the. stocking, that is to say, where the two edges of the fiat knit web produced by this type of machine are joined together, the reinforcement when madeis produced at the edges of the web, and therefore in such a stocking there are as many as four varying reinforcements being produced at the same time.

Our invention consists in the construction, combination and arrangement of parts illustrated in the accompanying drawings forming part hereof and described and claimed in the specification.

Referring to these drawings, in which similar reference characters designate like parts in all views,

Fig. 1 is a plan View, with parts broken away, of so much of a full-fashioned knitting machine as is necessary to illustrate the invention;

Fig. 2 is a detail in perspective with parts broken away of a special form of lever and bracket embodying the invention;

Fig. 3 is a side view of a stocking showing the product of the invention constituted by the arrangement of parts shown in Figure 1; and,

Fig. 4 is an end view, partly in section, of the mechanism for actuating the feed screw shown in Fig. 1.

Referring to these drawings, the machine shown has seven carrier rods, 1 to 7 inclusive, and in the particular arrangement shown five of these are in use, namely, 3 to 7 inclusive, which have mounted upon them in the usual manner the thread-carriers or guides 13m 17 respectively. The threadcarrier guides 13-17 are shown broken away to avoid confusion, but it is to be understood that these are afiixed to the respective rods 37; that is to say, thread-carrier 13 is mounted upon carrier rod 3; thread-carrier 14 upon carrier rod 4; etc. In the arrangement shown guide 13 carries the main thread; and guides 14,15, 16'and'17 carry reinforcing threads.

Carri'e r rods 4, 5, 6 and 7- are each provided with special stops 24, 25, 26, and 27 respectively, arranged for cooperation wit-h abutment levers 34, 35, 36, 37 respectively suitably mounted upon abutment heads 41, 42, whlch are in engagement with a feed screw 43 by means of which movement of these abutment heads 41, 42 is effected. .-.Thestops 2427 may be made adjustable by the use. of screws 21 carrying theabutment surface or head 22 and held in position when adJusted by means of locknuts 23. The levers 34 to 37 inclusive are mounted upon pms 31, 'fixed to the abutment heads 41, 42. The levers 34 to 37 inclusive are held 1n normal operative position by means of plungers 32 actuated by springs 33, which engage notches 38, in the various levers, these plungers being mounted in appropriate portions of the abutment heads 41, 42 (see Fig. 2). When it is desired to move these abutment levers or any of them from operative position, so that they do not engage the stops 24 to 27 inclusive upon the carrier rods, said levers are raised, being automatical'ly released by the spring plungers 32, which again project when. the levers have been sufficiently raised and extend beneath the levers holding them out of the line of travel of the stops 24-27 on the carrier rods, as shown in Fig. 2.

The pointed reinforcements desired are obtained by-varying the travel of the various carrier rods, and this is effected by varying the positions of the abutment heads 41, 42 by rotating and controlling the rotation of the feed screw 43. This may be accomplished in various ways, one of which is shown particularly in Fig. 4. The feed screw 43 has keyed to it, a ratchet whee1.44, adapted to be engaged by a clawker 45 which is pivoted to an arm 46 at one end, the arm 46 being loosely pivoted at the other end to the shaft 43, the clawker 45 being actuated by an arm 47 which is pivotally connected to a lever 48 mounted upon the frame 50 by a p n 51, which lever carries a wheel 52 which runs in contact with a cam 53 mounted upon a revolving shaft 54 and adapted to actuate the lever 48 upon each revolution of the shaft 54. A spring 49 is provided attached to the lever 48 to return the same to initial position when the lever is released by the cam.

The operation of the machine may be described as follows.

The article to be produced is, as shown in Fig. 3, and again in Fig. 1 in web form on the machine partly finished, a stocking A, having a pointed reinforcement B, C, the the heel or seam of the stocking, and pointed reinforcements D, E, at each side at the ankle.

To produce this stocking the knitting machine is operated in the ordinary manner without using any of the special attachments provided by this invention until the course is reached in which the main heel reinforcement portions B, C, are to start. When this point is reached, the machine is stopped and the abutment levers 34, 35 are lowered so as to be inposition to engage the corresponding stops 24, 25 on the carrier rods 4 and 5 and thus arrest the movement of those carrier rods and the thread guides 14, 15. At the same time the usual friction arms (not shown) are thrown into engagement with the carrier rods 4 and 5 so as to actuate these rods and cause a re-inforcing thread to be laid by the thread guides 14 and 15, the main thread being laid in by the thread guide 13 exactly as it was during the knitting of the main portion of the stocking.

The clawker 45 is also thrown into operation at this point, so that the feed screw 43 is intermittently rotated at the end of each course andthe abutment heads 41 and 42 are separated thus permitting the travel of the thread guides 14 and 15 to increase so as to widen the reinforcement of the pointed heel portions B, C, at the edges of the web.

This continues until the course is reached at which it is desired to commence the ankle reinforcement points: D, E, at which time the machine is stopped and the abutment levers 16, 17 are moved from inoperative to operative ositions. The frictionarms (not shown) of the corresponding carrier rods 6 and 7 are thrown into engagement with those rods at this time, so that the rods may be actuated.

It will be noted that whereas the stop 24 for the guide 14 abuts against an abutment lever 34 upon the right hand abutment head 42, the stop 27 for the guide 17 which is also knitting a reinforcement at the left hand side of the web operates in conjunction with abutment lever 37 on abutment'head 41 at the left. Thus while the reinforcements B In Fig. 1. the main thread guide 13 is shown moving from left to right, about in the middle of its course; thread'guide 14 has traversed its entire course from left to' right, and is stopped in the position shown by the stop 24 striking against theabutment lever 34; thread guide 17 is about ready to commence its travel from left to the dottedposition at the right, the stop 27 still being in contact with the abutment lever 37 which arrested it when traveling in the other direction; thread guide 16 will travel, after thread guide 13 has passed it, from, the osition shown until the stop surface 22 o the stop 26 strikes against the abutment lever 36, which will enable thread guide 16 to lay in the reinforcing thread over one more wale than shown in the last course pictured; and thread guide 15 will be the last move to the right, the stop 25 for that guide being still in contact w1th the abutment lever 35 which it struck when traveling in the other direction. It is of course to be understood, that these special stops control the positions of their respective carrier rod at one end of the stroke only, the other end of the stroke being controlled by the regular abutment heads of the machine, thus producing the straight edges of the reinforced sections, the tapered edges being produced by these special stops andabutments.

While no attempt has been made to describe the knitting machine itself to which this invention is applied, the machine being of the regular type generally in use for producing ladies full fashioned knit silk'stockings, it is believed that the description and statement of operation given will make the invention entirely clear to one skilled in the art and familiar with such a machine.

Having now described our invention, we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. In a hosiery knitting machine, the combination comprising abutment heads movable toward or away from each other, abutment levers hinged thereon, and spring plungers arranged to hold said levers in operative or inoperative positions.

2. In a hosiery knitting machine, the combination comprising carrier rods, stops thereon, a feed screw, an abutment head movable thereby, abutment levers carried by said abutment head for engagement with said stops, and plungers for retaining the said vlevers in the operative or inoperative position, said levers being hinged to be raised to inoperative position when desired,

3. In a hosiery knitting machine, the combination comprising carrier rods, stops thereon, a feed screw, an abutment head movable thereby, abutment levers carried b said abutment head for enga ement wit said stops, said levers being hinged to be raised to inoperative I position when desired and spring plungers for holding said levers in either operative or inoperative positions.

4. In a hosiery knitting machine, the combination comprisin carrier rods, adjustable stops thereon, a eed screw, an abutment head 'movable thereby, abutment levers carried by said abutment head for engagement with said stops, said levers being hinged to be raised to inoperative position when desired, and spring plungers for retaining the said levers in the inoperative position.

5. In a hosiery knitting machine, means for producing at laterally separated portions of the web approaching tapered reinforcements, comprising a pair of oppositely movable abutment heads, a pair of thread guides and carrier rods for each set of approaching reinforcements, stops on said carrier rods, an abutment lever on one of said abutment heads for one portion of each set of approaching reinforcements, and an abutment lever on the other head for the other portionof each set, and a spring pressed plunger mounted in each of said heads for retaining each abutment lever its operative position.

In testimony whereof we have signed our names to this specification.

c. THURE- M. GREEN. EREQ ,H. nosr. 

